Viviana Barquero

Research Interests:

I am an architect interested in sustainable communities and new urbanism, majoring in Arid Lands Resource Sciences minoring in Global Change. The interdisciplinarity of both programs has led her to focus her research primarily on the use of renewable energy as a way to mitigate climate change and improve livelihood conditions in Mexican arid regions.

I am currently working at the Renewable Energy Networkof the University of Arizona investigating current energy policies and market strategies both in US and Mexico that could enhance renewable energy adoption. Her doctoral dissertation research aims to answer whether renewable energy in the form of solar may help improve livelihood conditions in rural and urban low income livelihoods in Mexican arid regions. Therefore, a comparative study analysis of six different communities, (three rural and three urban low income) will be done in order to explore their willingness to use solar distributed generation of energy not only as a method of self-generation but also as a way to improve their income by using current net metering policy incentives. If this research achieves a way to promote solar energy in a more efficient way, it definitely may also help in the promotion of a larger renewable energy portfolio in Mexico, reducing the amount of CO2 emissions generated otherwise from fuel-based energy sources.